


You and I

by lux_chels



Category: ZoloZayn, Zquad, zayn malik - Fandom
Genre: Black woman, F/M, Female Character of Color, POV Character of Color, Project POC, Zayn Malik does not give the respect he deserves as the male vocalist of our generation, alternative universe, ambw, icarus falls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-02-02
Packaged: 2019-10-21 02:25:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17634242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lux_chels/pseuds/lux_chels
Summary: Following the release of Zayn's latest album, Icarus Falls I wanted to write something because it is so good and yet it is sadly slept on.   I also wanted to challenge myself to finish writing something by May (fingers crossed) so here goes nothing.





	You and I

“Lelani!! Over here!”

“Lelani give us a smile!” 

Lelani Novell sighed and hid her face behind her hand, as she closely followed behind her security guards as the paparazzi questioned her about her next project and the current status of her love life.

“Is it true you’re working on a new album?”

“Lelani we missed you! So happy to see you working again!”

“Lelani are you happy? We don’t want you to have another breakdown.” 

“When are you dropping your campaign with Versace?”

“Are you currently dating anyone? I heard Justin misses you. Are you thinking about taking him back?” 

Hearing his name to this day still made her stomach turn with knots. As embarrassing as it was, this was the question that caused her to stop in her tracks. Quickly recovering, she smiled for the cameras and directed her security to allow her to sign a couple autographs for her adoring fans. While she was unable to speak to all of them, it always warmed her heart to be able to make someone’s day by simply speaking to them. If it was not for their tremendous support and encouragement, she would have given up her career four years ago. After a brief few moments to interact with her fans, her security guards and manager led her to the car that would be taking her back to her hotel. 

Finally making it safely into the car, she sighed with relief. While she was incredibly thankful for her fans and the opportunities fame provided her, she was uncomfortable with how invasive the paparazzi and the media in general, could be. 

While she was used to it, having spent the majority of her life in Hollyweird, the level of invasion and entitlement that came with the position was extremely taxing. At the tender age of one, she began modeling for baby product commercials, leading her to land her first acting role at the age of three on the hit show Life as We Know It. Being a part of a show that won five Golden Globes gave her recognition in the industry at an early age. Life as We Know It finally ended after seven long years, and she went on to star in a couple major blockbuster hits solidifying her presence as a young actress who could handle both comedic roles and tear jerking dramatic ones as well. Likewise, having a natural talent for both singing and dancing, she began her singing career at 13 and her life had never been the same since. Labeling her as the R&B Britney Spears, she experienced great success as a rising star, even being asked to perform at tributes to the greats like Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and Prince to name a few. Her sophomore album was not only commercially successful but gained a couple of Grammy nominations and AMAs as well. 

Even so, sometimes she regretted her musical success because it is what lead her to meet Justin Smith, her ex. An up and coming R&B singer himself, her label paired him with her for two singles, one for her third album and one on his first. The marketing worked like magic and both singles became Billboard number one hits over night. Just like their music blossomed, so did their love for each other and the two dated exclusively for three years. However, what she thought would be the love of a lifetime, turned out to be a never ending nightmare. With the fame and the fortune, Justin became entitled, arrogant, and ironically insecure. Unlike Lelani who grew up in the industry Justin became famous overnight and did not know how to cope leading him to make reckless decisions. 

At first he was extremely sweet and thoughtful however towards the end of their relationship he became extremely possessive and began to verbally and physically abuse her. Their relationship ended dramatically one night. Coming home high and drunk from another party he pettily began a fight after she said she did not want to have sex with him. The words said between the two of them were heated to the point he admitted to cheating on her throughout the duration of their relationship, blaming her because she was a “boring” homebody. Angered, and hurt she tried to leave, which led to an altercation between the two of them. The next day she woke up in a hospital bed surrounded by her parents and her two best friends. Justin had turned himself into the police, but not before posting intimate videos and pictures the couple shared, while he was still under the influence of alcohol and cocaine. To say she was embarrassed was an understatement. While she was physically suffering from a broken nose, concussion, and black eye, the emotional pain was much worse. 

Known as someone who protected her private life fiercely the events of that dreadful night was extremely devastating and traumatic for her. Having to see her business displayed on trashy shows like as TMZ, E! News, and Wendy Williams was more than she could take and led her to fall into a deep depression which took the rest of that year for her to fully recover from. After that experience Lelani never seriously dated anyone and had not released an album since, primarily due to the struggle she had with her label. Her former label Platinum, had been adamant about keeping her quiet because they desperately did not want any additional bad publicity directed towards Justin. Feeling betrayed and abandoned, she left her label and returned back to her roots, acting. Brilliantly playing the role, Evie (the title of the movie as well), a kidnapped woman sold into sex trafficking who managed to escape on her own, she won her first Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Female Actress. This experience and the support of her fans led her to continue her career in the entertainment industry and inspired her to begin working on her upcoming album. 

Four years had past since she had put out any music, and she was excited to be releasing something later that year. She was finally ready to give her fans what they had been waiting for, answers. Even so, she still had her doubts, how would they receive it? How would it be perceived by the media? Would it look like she was bringing up old “drama” for publicity? It was oftentimes hard for black women to speak out about the trauma they experienced at the hands of black men, without someone saying we need to protect the community. Ultimately she didn’t care how people felt about the timing of her album and its contents. The work she was producing gave insight to an important part of her life. As with all her music she tried to be authentic and honest as possible as this was the primary way she connected with her fans. . . 

“...are you even listening to me?” Pulled from her thoughts, Lelani looked away from the window and meet the eyes of her manager and mother, Jennifer Novell. “I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I spaced out momentarily.” “Are you sure you don’t want to take a break? You just recently finished the re-shoots for Missguided, the past month you’ve been on a press release tour for this movie, the previous six months you were in the studio day and night writing and recording, and now you have to fly out for the shoot with Versace. I'm sure Donatella won't mind rescheduling so you can take two weeks off to recuperate.”

“Mom I’m fine.” she answered. 

“Honey, I understand you’re extremely hardworking and I’m glad that we taught you how to be independent at an early age, but me and your father don’t want you having another breakd---”

“I am completely fine and I don’t feel overworked or exhausted. Yes, the past couple months have been hectic but I don’t feel like I am having a mental breakdown. Okay? I am no where near as stressed as I used to be and I know the signs. Finally, I have my therapist on speed dial. You know I take my health very seriously mom. You have nothing to worry about okay?” 

Jennifer looked at her daughter skeptically but nodded her head. She saw the way her daughter froze at the mention of her ex. With all the projects she would be releasing soon she knew that the questions would be inevitable. It didn't help that Justin seemed to want to reclaim his fame by publically speaking about their previous relationship to any news outlet that would be willing to pay him any attention. With the possibility of her daughter's new album including songs that could be directly connected with her past relationship it only worried her more as she was extremely protective concerning her Lelani, especially considering her previous experiences. Even so, she knew she had to allow her daughter to make her own decisions. 

The car pulled up to the hotel and Lelani prepared herself to face the crowd outside. Turning back to her mother she smiled softly and said, “I’ll be downstairs in a hour and a half to catch my flight okay? I love you mommy.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Entering into her hotel room, she laid down on the bed and scrolled through her phone. After updating her social media sites, Lelani looked through her recent call list and saw she had two missed calls from her best friend, Crystal. Checking her messages she smiled at the ridiculous text her friend sent her,

Why didn’t your hoe ass pick up when I called you? 

Shaking her head at her friend’s ridiculous antics she quickly call her back.

“Hey bitch.”

“You know you could be a little nicer to me if you want me to snag you something from the Versace collection I’m working on.” 

“I still can’t believe you forgot to let me know when you were traveling to Italy so I could take off work. You know I love Italian food, Italian shoes, and Italian men. You’re so wrong for forgetting.” 

“I’m sorry I forgot. You know I’ve been extremely busy lately.”

“Maybe a little too busy perhaps.”

“What do you mean by that?” Lelani asked rolling her eyes.

“Look I’m just saying perhaps you should take a vacation. Just a couple days off. Me, you, and Jayla. Somewhere tropical perhaps, like Hawaii.”

“Have you been talking to my mom?”

“. . .maybe.”

“Thanks Crystal, really. Of all the people who I thought would have my back and be excited that I am doing what I love I thought it would be you.”

“Wait a minute. You know good and well that I am more than happy for you but you have to admit you have been pushing yourself a lot lately and we are all just looking out for your best interests because we love you.” 

“I know, but sometimes it feels like no matter what I do I’ll always have what happened to me four years ago hanging over my head and honestly I’m sick of it. It’s bad enough that every time I see an article about me or turn on the news the first thing I have to hear is about how damaged I apparently am, but it really fucking hurts when I have to experience it from my own family and friends too!” 

“I’m sorry Lelani nobody wanted to make you feel this way. Really we just don’t want you to feel overworked and feel like you have no one to talk to about it. You bottle everything in and you’re so good at putting on a happy face and pretending everything’s okay. Even when you’re not.”

“I know and I’m working on that, really. But I promise I have never been this ready and happy to release something in my entire life. I’m not stressed or exhausted like I was four years ago. I haven't had an anxiety attack in ages. Yes there are times where I am tired but ultimately I feel so much excitement when I think about the reaction of my fans when they’ll hear my new music. I just wished my mother trusted me to make my own decisions.”

“Yeah, but you know how she is, you’re her baby and you still haven’t completely healed from all the shit Justin put you through understandably.” 

“. . . Yes I have.”

“Okay so why haven’t you been on one single date in the past four years?” 

“Just because I haven’t dated anyone since him doesn’t mean I haven’t healed. I learned a lot for the past and I refuse to make that type of mistake again.” 

“Yeah but you also close your heart off from everyone else. You don’t allow yourself the possibility of falling in love.” 

“That’s not true!” Lelani scoffed, rolling her eyes. 

“It’s completely true. Anytime any guy tries to start anything with you, you shut it down immediately.” 

“I just find it extremely difficult to date Crystal. Look at my schedule where would I find the time to have a serious relationship? Besides every guy I have met in the industry doesn’t want me, they want the fantasy, the camera, lights, and actions bullshit. When I show them who I really am they’re quick to walk away.” 

“I don’t think you give anybody a chance to see the real you. And you deliberately schedule things just so you don’t have to go on dates. Don’t think for one minute I forgot about the time Drake asked you out and you scheduled a last minute studio session so you wouldn’t have to go. I mean you have red flags, for your red flags. I don’t know how any guy would be able to get pass your walls. I’m just saying I don’t want you to miss out on a great opportunity to find the love of your life because you’re afraid that he’ll be like Justin. Fuck him to be honest. All guys aren’t like him.” 

“Whatever.” 

“Look all I am saying is if I had your body there is NO way in the world I wouldn’t be getting dicked down.” 

“Crystal!” Lelani exclaimed laughing. 

“I’m just saying.” 

“You’re so crazy but I have to go. I need to freshen up before getting on my flight.” 

“Fine, but don’t think for one minute this conversation is over. I love you like crazy and PLEASE have fun while you’re in Italy. At least take one day off to relax. Also, make sure to snag me some nice Italian shoes, and go meet a fine Italian man. You deserve it for all your hard work.” 

“I’ll think about it.” Lelani said between giggles before hanging up the call. 

With rumors swirling about an upcoming album release Donatella had reached out to her personally about the possibility of working together to create a unique urban afro funk collection. To say she was honored was an understatement. Her first fashion campaign and with such a huge face in the fashion industry made her extremely nervous. Still to this day she couldn’t believe how far she had come. Hearing about her return to the music industry and about her upcoming fashion release, Vogue had also reached out to her people about the possibility of her being on the cover. As it was very rare for dark skin African American women to be featured she was extremely excited about the opportunity to represent women who looked just like her in a positive way. 

After the Versace and Vogue shoots, I need to begin working on my visuals for the album. Then I’ll have the movie premiere, following that I’ll release the album and do a world tour. After that I’ll rest, I’ll take an entire week off to rest, she reasoned with herself. 

Hearing a knock on her door, she knew it was time to get ready to depart for her trip. Checking the room one last time, she exited out of the door to get on the elevator with her body guard Mike. She heard the telltale sound of a text coming through and saw it was from Donatella herself. The text simply read:

Hello Darling, can’t wait to see you tomorrow just want to let you know I have invited someone to our dinner. You might know him,it's Zayn Malik. I would love for you two to meet. See you tomorrow love you ciao.

**Author's Note:**

> Following the release of Zayn's latest album, Icarus Falls I wanted to write something because it is so good and yet it is sadly slept on. I also wanted to challenge myself to finish writing something by May (fingers crossed) so here goes nothing.


End file.
